Search results for "Field method"
showing 10 items of 33 documents
De la encuesta a la base de datos: experiencia de trabajo de campo del estudio «Inmigración, trabajo y salud» (Proyecto ITSAL)
2011
Objective: Despite the need for information in the area of migration and health, the available data are sparse. We describe the field work in a cross-sectional study on the health of immigrant workers in Spain. Method: A convenience sample of workers from Colombia, Ecuador, Morocco and Rumania in four cities was targeted, using a block-walking approach. The outcome rates of the American Association of Public Opinion Research were estimated. Results: Of 6,504 persons approached, 71.4% were eligible contacts. Of these contacts, only 57.8% completed interviews. Response and cooperation rates were above 50%. Conclusions: Block-walking enabled surveyors to access difficult-to-reach groups. The u…
Gluon mass generation in the presence of dynamical quarks
2013
We study in detail the impact of dynamical quarks on the gluon mass generation mechanism, in the Landau gauge, for the case of a small number of quark families. As in earlier considerations, we assume that the main bulk of the unquenching corrections to the gluon propagator originates from the fully dressed quark-loop diagram. The nonperturbative evaluation of this diagram provides the key relation that expresses the unquenched gluon propagator as a deviation from its quenched counterpart. This relation is subsequently coupled to the integral equation that controls the momentum evolution of the effective gluon mass, which contains a single adjustable parameter; this constitutes a major impr…
The species-specific monitoring protocols for plant species of Community interest in Italy
2017
The results of a project for the identification of species-specific monitoring protocols for the Italian plant species protected under the Habitats Directive (Annexes II/IV/V) are presented. The project led to the development of 118 monitoring factsheets, providing an operational guidance for 107 vascular taxa, 10 bryophytes and 1 lichen taxon. Each factsheet includes information on the species (distribution, biology, ecology, conservation status, threats, etc.) and the description of field methodologies for the detection of the two main reporting parameters, i.e. population size and habitat quality. Practical information to plan field activities are also given. Protocols were designed to a…
Technical Note: Comparison of Techniques for Evaluating the Relative Preference by Sheep Among Saltbush Clones
2004
This research compared 4 field methods of evaluating the relative preference by sheep of 28 clones of saltbush (Atriplex halimus L.). The methods were as follows. 1) Leaf dots (LD): 8 leaves per shrub were marked on the lower surface with a small dot using a water-resistant, nontoxic ink. 2) Twig marks (TM): 2 current-year twigs per shrub were marked with 3 lines using the same ink approximately in the middle of the basal, median, and apical thirds. 3) Branch length (BL): 2 branches per shrub were marked with ink at the base of the current year's growth. The twigs were measured from the marked point to the top, before and after sheep browsing. 4) Ocular estimation (OE): the percentage of th…
Pinch Technique: Theory and Applications
2009
We review the theoretical foundations and the most important physical applications of the Pinch Technique (PT). This general method allows the construction of off-shell Green’s functions in non-Abelian gauge theories that are independent of the gauge-fixing parameter and satisfy ghost-free Ward identities. We first present the diagrammatic formulation of the technique in QCD, deriving, at one loop, the gauge independent gluon self-energy, quark–gluon vertex, and three-gluon vertex, together with their Abelian Ward identities. The generalization of the PT to theories with spontaneous symmetry breaking is carried out in detail, and the profound connection with the optical theorem and the disp…
Pinch technique and the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism
2002
In this paper we take the first step towards a non-diagrammatic formulation of the Pinch Technique. In particular we proceed into a systematic identification of the parts of the one-loop and two-loop Feynman diagrams that are exchanged during the pinching process in terms of unphysical ghost Green's functions; the latter appear in the standard Slavnov-Taylor identity satisfied by the tree-level and one-loop three-gluon vertex. This identification allows for the consistent generalization of the intrinsic pinch technique to two loops, through the collective treatment of entire sets of diagrams, instead of the laborious algebraic manipulation of individual graphs, and sets up the stage for the…
Gluon mass generation in the PT-BFM scheme
2006
In this article we study the general structure and special properties of the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the gluon propagator constructed with the pinch technique, together with the question of how to obtain infrared finite solutions, associated with the generation of an effective gluon mass. Exploiting the known all-order correspondence between the pinch technique and the background field method, we demonstrate that, contrary to the standard formulation, the non-perturbative gluon self-energy is transverse order-by-order in the dressed loop expansion, and separately for gluonic and ghost contributions. We next present a comprehensive review of several subtle issues relevant to the search …
QCD effective charge from the three-gluon vertex of the background-field method
2013
In this article we study in detail the prospects of determining the infrared finite QCD effective charge from a special kinematic limit of the vertex function corresponding to three background gluons. This particular Green's function satisfies a QED-like Ward identity, relating it to the gluon propagator, with no reference to the ghost sector. Consequently, its longitudinal form factors may be expressed entirely in terms of the corresponding gluon wave function, whose inverse is proportional to the effective charge. After reviewing certain important theoretical properties, we consider a typical lattice quantity involving this vertex, and derive its exact dependence on the various form facto…
Gauge invariant Ansatz for a special three-gluon vertex
2011
We construct a general Ansatz for the three-particle vertex describing the interaction of one background and two quantum gluons, by simultaneously solving the Ward and Slavnov-Taylor identities it satisfies. This vertex is known to be essential for the gauge-invariant truncation of the Schwinger-Dyson equations of QCD, based on the pinch technique and the background field method. A key step in this construction is the formal derivation of a set of crucial constraints (shown to be valid to all orders), relating the various form factors of the ghost Green's functions appearing in the aforementioned Slavnov-Taylor identity. When inserted into the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the gluon propagat…
Causes and underlying processes of measurement variability in field erosion plots in Mediterranean conditions
2007
Published online 25 May 2006